Overwinding preventer for spring motors



y 1931. .1. P. ZAIDAN OVERWINDING PREVENTER FOR SPRING MOTORS l FiledAug. 16, 1930 Joye/ A 7 2% ammo/1 8 Patented May 5, 1931 UNITED STATESJOSEPH P. ZAIDAN, OF SCRAN'ION, PENNSYLVANIA OVERWINIDING PREVENTER FORSPRING MOTORS Application filed August 16, 1930. Serial no. 475,736.

My invention relates to overwinding preventers for spring motors andmore particularly to an overwinding preventer for a spring motor of thetype used to operate phonographs and the like.

An object of my invention is to provide a device adapted to be appliedto spring motors generally, and one that will prevent overwinding of themotor springs.

Another object of my invention is to provide an overwinding preventer inwhich the spring winding spindle is prevented from further rotationafter a predetermined number of turns.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a device in which thestop mechanism is released and the parts brought back to the startingposition when the motor spring unwinds.

- Yet another object of my invention is to provide an overwindingpreventer consisting of but few parts; one that is strong and sturdy inconstruction and not liable to get out of order even after long andcontinued use.

With these and other objects in View, which may be incident to myimprovements, the invention consists in the parts and combinations to behereinafter set forth and claimed, with the understanding that theseveral necessary elements, comprising my invention, may be varied inconstruction, proportions and arrangement, without departing from thespirit and scope of the appended claims.

In order to make my invention more clearly understood, I have shown inthe accompanying drawings means for carrying the same into practicalefiect, without limiting the improvements in their useful applicationsto the particular constructions, which for the purpose of explanation,have been made the subject of illustration.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, showing mydevice in combination with a motor used to operate a phonograph.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view showing the position of the parts of theoverwinding preventer when the motor spring is wound.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a modification of my device as used incombination with the spring of a clock mechanism. v

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the arrangement shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a detailed view of the winding handle.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. l, I have shownmy overwinding preventer in combination with a spring motor of the typeused with phonographs or other talking machines.

The motor 1 is mounted upon a suitable base 2 to which is attached asupport member 3 having vertical arms 4 and 4: Extending throughsuitable openings in the vertical arms are motor spindles 5 and 6 whichare adapted to support the motor between the arms of the support member3.

The spindle 5 for winding the motor spring is provided with lugs orprojections 7 adapted to fit into recesses 8 formed in the winding keyor handle so that the handle may be connected with the spindle when itis desired to wind the spring.

Mounted upon the arm 4: by means of bolts or rivets 9 is a gear supportmember 10 having an opening adapted to receive a suitable shaft 12 of agear 13. The winding key or handle is provided with a projection 9adapted to mesh with gear 13, and move it a. distance of 1 tooth foreach revolution of the handle when the motor spring is being wound. Thegear 13 is provided near its periphery with a projection or extensionmember 14 which projects a suitable distance from the plane of the gearso that the projection will engage with the support member 10 andprevent further rotation of the gear at certain points of its travel.

\Vhen the winding handle is rotated, projection 9 engages with the gear13 and turns it through a distance of 1 tooth for each revolution of thehandle. After the gear has been turned through a certain number ofdegrees, the extension 14 engages with the support 10 and preventsfurther rotation of the gear and thus limits the rotation of the windingspindle. In practice, the gear 13 is so designed with relation to theparticular spring of a motor that the stop 14 will encounter the support10 before the spring is entirely wound.

Attached to the base 2 are vertical support members 15 which form athree point support arrangement for a plate 16. The plate may beattached to the supports 15 by any suitable means, however, a convenientmethod of fastening the plate is to drill the supports and attach theplates to the members by means of screws 17. On the underside of theplate 16 there is mounted a gear 18, in mesh with gear 13 and adapted torotate upon its shaft 18 when gear 13 is turned by means of theprojection on the winding handle.

The spindle 6 which is rotated when the motor spring unwinds, carries agear 19 which is splined to the spindle or otherwise attached to it sothat the gear rotates with the spindle.

Near the periphery of gear 19 there is attached an arm 20 having aportion 21 adapted to engage with gear 18 and move gear 19 through adistance of 1 tooth when the portion 21 is at its highest point duringthe rotation of the spindle. It will thus be seen that when the motorspring unwinds, spindle 6 is rotated'together with gear 19. The arm 20is carried around underneath the motor and back to the position shown inthe drawings. Once during each revolution, the arm 20 engages with gear18 and moves it through a. distance of 1 tooth.

In the operation of my device, the handle member is placed in positionon the extension 5, so that the projections 7 formed on the extensionfit into the recesses in the winding handle. The handle is rotated, thusturning the winding spindle and for each revolution of the handle, theprojection 9 moves gear 13 through a distance of 1 tooth. Gear 13 whichis in mesh with gear 18 rotates gear 19 which moves freely about itspoint of support.

After a predetermined number of turns of the handle, the projection 14on the gear 13 engages with the support member 10 and prevents furtherrotation.

When the motor is released and put into operation, the spindle 6 isrotated and turns gear 19 with it. During its travel, arm 21 encountersgear 18 and moves it a distance of 1 tooth during each revolution. Gear19,

= p which is in mesh with gear 13 also turns gear 13 through a distanceof 1 tooth. In this manner, after the spring unwinds, gear 13 is rotatedso that the projection 14 is carried away from the support 10 andbrought back to the starting position when the spring is completelyunwound.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, I have shown my overwinding preventer incombination with a spring of a clock mechanism.

In this arrangement, the winding spindle 22 is provided with aprojection 23 adapted to engage with gear 24 and turn the gear throughone tooth for each revolution of the spindle. It will be noted thatprojection 25 carried by gear 24 extends outwardly from the periphery ofthe gear. and is of sufficient length to encounter a vertical pin orstop member 26 attached to the frame of a clock mechanism.

When the clock spring is being wound, spindle 22 is rotated andprojection 23 turns gear 24 through one tooth foreach revolution. Aftera predetermined number of turns of the spindle, projection 25 encountersthe stop 26 and further rotation of the spindle is prevented.

As the spring unwinds, projection 23 turns gear 24 in a directionopposite to that in which it was turned during the winding operation andmoves projection 25 away from the stop member 26 back to its startingposition.

The number of teeth on gear 24 will be de termined by the particularspring with which the overwinding preventer is used. The gear is sodesigned that after a predetermined number of turns of the windingspindle, projection 25 will encounter the stop member just before thespring is completely wound so that overwinding is prevented.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment ofmyinvention, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself tothe precise details of construction herein set forth, by way ofillustrations, as itis apparent that many changes and variations may bemade therein, by those skilled in the art, without departing from thespirit of the invention, or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is: I

1. Inrcombinat-ion with a spring motor, an overwinding preventer for themotor spring comprising, a gear member adapted to be rotated by thewinding key, support means for said gear and a member associated withthe gear adapted to'prevent further rotation of the gear after apredetermined number of turns of the winding key. i

2. In combination with a spring motor, including its supporting frame,an overwinding preventer for the motor spring comprising, a gear adaptedto be rotated by the winding key, a projection on the motor supportframe, and means associated with the gear adapted to engage with theprojection on the motor frame after a predetermined number of turns ofthe winding key.

3. In combination with a spring motor, including its supporting frame,an overwinding preventer for the motor spring comprising, a gear adaptedto be rotated by the winding key, a projection on the motor supportframe, and an extension attached to the gear adapted to engage with theprojection on the motor frame after a predetermined number of turns ofthe winding key.

4. In combination with a spring motor, an overwinding preventer for themotor spring comprising, a gear member adapted to be rotated by thewinding key, support means for said gear, a member mounted upon the gearand adapted to engage with the gear support means after a predeterminednumber of turns of the winding key, a second gear in mesh with saidfirst gear and means to rotate the second gear when the motor springunwinds, whereby the support engaging member on the first gear is movedaway from the gear support.

5. In combination with a spring motor, an overwinding preventer for themotor spring comprising, a gear member adapted to be rotated by thewinding key, support means for said gear, a member mounted upon the gearand adapted to engage with the gear support after a predetermined numberof turns of the winding key, a second gear in mesh with the first gear,an extension arm associated with the motor unwinding spindle adapted toen gage with the second gear and rotate said gear when the motor springunwinds, whereby the support engaging member on the first gear is movedaway from the gear support.

6. In combination with a spring motor in cluding its support, anoverwinding preventer for the motor spring comprising a gear memberadapted to be rotated by the winding key, support means for said gear, aprojection mounted upon the gear and adapted to engage with the gearsupport after a predetermined number of turns of the winding key, asecond gear in mesh with the first gear, a support plate for said secondgear, an extension arm associated with the motor unwinding spindle, andadapted to engage with the sec-- ond gear and rotate said gear when themotor spindle unwinds, whereby the projection on the first gear is movedaway from the gear support.

7 In combination with a spring motor including its support, anoverwinding preventer for the motor spring comprising, a gear memberadapted to be rotated by the winding key, support means for said gearmounted upon the motor support, a projection attached to the gear andadapted to engage with the gear support member after a predeterminednumber of turns of the winding key, a second gear in mesh with the firstgear, a support plate signature.

JOSEPH P. ZAIDAN.

